Amid cash crunch, get ready to pay ATM transaction fees again

Remember when the government waived off the ATM transaction fees to make it easier for the public after the demonetisation announcement? Turns out, the government is going to bring back the ATM transaction fees as the rule was only valid until December 30.

In the month of November, the RBI announced that they were doing away with ATM charges on all transactions done by savings bank customers till December 30 post Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

The bank had earlier said that it will waive levy of ATM charges for all transactions on both financial and non-financial transactions by savings bank customers done at their own banks’ ATMs as well as at other banks’ ATMs, “irrespective of the number of transactions during the month.”

However, according to reports, savings account customers would now be eligible for 5 free transactions in a month after which they will have to pay ATM transaction fees like they did before demonetisation announcement.

Before the Prime Minister announced to scrap away higher denomination currency notes, the banks like ICICI and Punjab National Banks charged Rs 15 transaction fees. While, other banks were permitted to charge customers up to Rs 20 for every transaction over the free limit.

Massive crunch was witnessed after Prime Minister made the demonetisation announcement.

Queues have become a common sight in India these days, with many people comparing them to days when people used to queue up for groceries at government-run centres. At the time of announcing demonetisation, fighting corruption and counterfeit currency were among the main objectives on which PM Modi reasoned his decision.

However, if reports are to be believed even after 50 days of demonetisation, only 20% ATMs are said to be functional across the country. While most of the working ATMs are said to be around the rural areas.